THE GEORGIAN JEWS

The Jews in Georgia divide into two groups of totally different origins:
the Georgian Jews and the European Jews. There has been no research into
the Georgian Jews and very few written records of them exist. In general
surveys they are usually seen as a local group of Jews, however their position
in the Georgian community has been so peculiar (similarly to Mountain Jews
in Dagestan and Azerbaijan) that they have been considered to be a separate
people.

Habitat. The Georgian Jews live mostly in the eastern part of Georgia,
in Tbilisi and other surrounding towns and small country villages. The
European Jews keep to the towns.

Population. In 1926 there were about 20,000 Georgian Jews. It is difficult
to establish an exact number, because in the censuses they have not been
counted separately from other Jews. In "The Atlas of the Peoples of the
World", published in 1964, the number of Georgian Jews is given as 35,700.

Language. The Georgian Jews long ago adopted the Georgian language.

Anthropologically, they do not differ from the eastern Georgians, who belong
to the Armenian type of the Balkano-Caucasian race. In former times they
trimmed their hair and beards in a slightly different way to that of the
Georgians. They were also more often red-headed.

Origin. These Jews are considered to be ancient inhabitants of Georgia,
and according to old Georgian manuscripts they settled there in the first
centuries AD. This hypothesis is supported by archaeological finds. Culturally,
the Jews have gradually grown close to the Georgians (i.e. the adoption
of the language), though their ethnic identity has been maintained in their
religion -- Judaism. The Jewish cultural sphere related to Judaism has always
had its peculiarities (cf. Mountain Jews and Central Asian Jews). Jewish
isolation has been preserved over many centuries by persecution and restrictive
customs; for instance, Jews were not allowed to marry Georgians. Therefore
religion and religious leaders (rabbis or hahamis) have played an important
role in the social life of the Georgian Jews.